Familiar Home for Concours of Elegance

The Concours of Elegance will be hosted on the grounds of Hampton Court Palace until 2021 — the result of a five-year agreement between Concours of Elegance and Historic Royal Palaces. Next year’s event will take place from 31 August – 2 September at Henry VIII’s legendary retreat on the Thames in London.

The Concours of Elegance remains unique in the UK as the only automotive event to be held at a royal venue each year, having previously been hosted at Windsor Castle, St James’s Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. In 2014 and 2017, the Concours headed to Hampton Court Palace, which quickly established itself as a favourite for visitors as the perfect setting for the event.

His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent remains the Concours of Elegance’s Patron, and will continue to serve as Chief Judge in the Royal Automobile Club’s Club Trophy. Bringing together the ‘best of the best’ of the UK’s car club scene, the Club Trophy winner is granted automatic entry in to the following year’s Concours of Elegance selection of cars. The 2017 winner, the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost ‘Taj Mahal’ will be entered into the main concours for the 2018 event at Hampton Court Palace.

As the Concours of Elegance looks to develop and grow over further years, Thorough Events has also announced the appointment of Andrew Evans as Managing Director. Andrew has more than 30 years’ experience in events, including as Director of Reed Exhibitions, and consulted on the launch of City Concours and the most recent Concours of Elegance.

James Brooks-Ward, Thorough Events CEO said: “The beauty and the history of Hampton Court Palace have always been a perfect match for Concours of Elegance. Both in 2014 and again in 2017, the feedback we had from owners of the cars, from visitors and from our partners was absolutely faultless. That’s why signing this five-year deal is such an incredibly important announcement for us — we now have a home! Along with our new Managing Director, Andrew Evans, we’re all very much looking forward to working closely with Historic Royal Palaces in the coming years to make this world-class event even more incredible.”

Liz Young, Head of Events at Historic Royal Palaces, added: “We are delighted to have signed a five-year agreement with Concours of Elegance to hold their annual event until 2021. The spectacular backdrop of Hampton Court Palace makes it the perfect setting to showcase some of the world’s most incredible vehicles. Both the 2014 and 2017 events were a huge success and we are incredibly excited to be working with the Concours of Elegance team over the next five years to further grow and develop this fantastic event.”

During its five-year run at Hampton Court Palace, Concours of Elegance will be once more focusing on raising money for charity. The 2017 event raised in excess of £250,000, and the total raised since the Concours began in 2012 has now surpassed £1.25m.